Events

September 10, 2013

Throughout history, people
have pushed back against the status quo and fought for change. The collection
of the National Portrait Gallery is filled with individuals who have led
movements that changed laws, government, and communities, often putting their
own freedom at risk. Do you know the name of the document that Elizabeth Cady
Stanton drafted at the Seneca Falls Convention? Or what alias Abbie Hoffman
used when he went into hiding?

Join us for this month’s Pop Quiz on September
12 at 6:30 p.m., where we’ll learn about these daring individuals and their
significant accomplishments.

Here is a sneak peek at the ten-point bonus question for
this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

James Otis Jr. was an early patriot who is often associated
with the phrase “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” John Adams named
him as one of the most influential figures in patriotic thought before the time
of the American Revolution. Otis protested against the likes of the British
“writs of assistance” and the Stamp Act. Otis was also an eccentric figure who
is said to have predicted how he would die.

What was Otis’s cause of death?

A.
Struck by lightningB.
Gunshot wound

C. Illness

D.
Old age

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene
Kogod Courtyard.

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages
will be available for purchase.

Levonian begins the class by explaining her own, rather
backward, entry into animation: originally a painter who worked in oil and
acrylic, she signed up for an obligatory class outside of her concentration
during her graduate studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and was
introduced to the medium. “I didn’t expect it to change my studio practice like
that,” she explains, “but I fell in love with it and stuck with this technique
for the past six or seven years.”

Levonian’s short movies are, in her own words, “pretty low
tech,” featuring watercolor-painted-paper cutouts animated in a jerky fashion
and quirky story lines that explore issues of gentrification and gender in
contemporary life.

Each of her films is usually around seven minutes long and takes
about six months to create—most of the time is spent painting the backgrounds
and figures, with the actual animation and editing taking place quickly at the
end.

Today, she compresses the process into what she calls a
“fast and furious” workshop, guiding the class in making paper figures of
marching band members with hinged joints and parading them across a watercolor
background to produce a brief animation. Levonian also pulls out cutouts she
has saved from previous movie projects, demonstrating how she would depict a
rotating rotisserie chicken in the traditional cel animation style or make a
car recede into space. “When you starting making these, you really start
observing the world differently,” she explains, noting that she now often
closely observes how people around her move their mouths while talking.

This attention to detail is obvious in Buffalo Milk Yogurt, Levonian’s winning entry to the Portrait Competition.
The film depicts a man having a nervous breakdown in a grocery store and was inspired
by one of the artist’s friends, who participated in a sociology experiment for
which he had to stand completely still in the middle of a grocery store for
five minutes. The exercise was meant to explore how others would react and “to
get him to be aware that there really is a social code that dominates the
public sphere,” Levonian says.

The animation’s main character, in fact, is loosely based on
a real person, an artist named Corey Fogal, whom Levonian met at a residency.
Fogal also collaborated with her on the music for the piece. Buffalo Milk Yogurt’s focus on a
specific person is what sparked Levonian to enter it into the contest, feeling
that it functions more as a portrait than some of her other work.

At the end of the workshop, Levonian loads the images from
her camera on to the computer, and the class watches as their mini animation
comes to life on the screen in front of them. “Whoops, looks like we got some
hands in there by accident,” Levonian laughs.

“With whimsy, humor, and extraordinary skill, Levonian has
mastered the challenging medium of watercolor in a portrait that took three
months of continuous work to create,” reflects Dorothy Moss, assistant curator
of painting and sculpture at the National Portrait Gallery and one of the jurors
for the contest. “What a privilege it was for our visitors to learn her process
during her Studio Time workshop.”

August 28, 2013

From P. T. Barnum to Madonna, the
National Portrait Gallery is home to top-notch entertainers of every genre.
This month, we will be featuring the cream of the crop at the National Portrait
Gallery’s collections-inspired trivia game, Pop Quiz. Join us on August 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the Kogod
Courtyard for a night of fun.

This month’s quiz puts your pop-culture history
knowledge to the test with trivia inspired by the singers, dancers, actors, and
stars found in the museum's collection. The team with the highest score
receives a prize.

The
Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for
purchase.

Here
is a sneak peek at the ten-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz
trivia:

Left destitute by an alcoholic father and a mentally
ill mother, Charlie Chaplin spent much of his childhood in workhouses and
pauper schools before becoming one of the world’s greatest silent film actors.

Chaplin
found his fame in Hollywood but was born in what European city?

Calling all DC foodies! Do you have an appetite for trivia? If
you think you’ve got a palate sophisticated enough to compete, come test your
chops at the National Portrait Gallery’s collections inspired trivia game, Pop
Quiz. Join us on July 31 at 6:30 p.m. in
the Kogod Courtyard for a night of fun.

This month’s Pop Quiz theme is “Bon Appétrivia,”
and we’ll be dishing out the details on your favorite culinary icons, from Julia
Child to Alice Waters and even Elvis Presley. As American chef James Beard once
said, "Too few people understand a really good sandwich." This
month’s Pop Quiz celebrates those members of our collection who understood a really
good sandwich and so much more. Come play and learn more about the lives of the
greatest figures in food.

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages
will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this
month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

Legendary
entertainer Elvis Presley was known for indulging in several uniquely
unhealthful meals, not the least of which was an overstuffed sandwich named
after himself. The famous grilled creation consists of peanut butter, mashed
banana, and what third unlikely ingredient?

Sweet Potato

Egg

Bacon

Maple Syrup

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene
Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery.

July 10, 2013

It is one thing to overthrow a
government; it is quite another to keep a new one going. As historian Catherine
Allgor writes, “the challenge of the generation after the founders lay in
creating [and maintaining] a working republic.” The women of the early republic
played a crucial role in this challenge by helping to develop a new social
order and customs surrounding power. Their contributions will be the subject of
an upcoming talk by Allgor at the National Portrait Gallery.

Allgor, who
will speak at the Portrait Gallery tonight (July 10) at 6pm, explores the notion of women in
power in her book A Perfect Union: Dolley
Madisonand the Creation of the
American Nation. She argues that while the founding men relied on both
physical and verbal violence to obtain their revolutionary goals, the new
country required deft compromise and power-sharing to survive.

In this
situation, Dolley Madison (1768–1849) and other women of the era were able to
shine. Madison saw the value in a political system based on civility and
conciliation rather than coercion. She aided the creation of coalitions and
initiated drawing-room connections that would play out in the political sphere.
Her drawing room was political and domestic; and she operated within her
purview as a woman of the era, shaping her surroundings through hospitality.

Madison
was also responsible for creating the image of the White House as the “national
home.” As she redecorated the building, she remade the idea of power in the new
republic, balancing the desire for aristocratic mien with ideal republican
values.

Despite having
no official position, Madison had a huge impact on Washington politics. This
was no small matter in a time when a “public woman” was a term for a
prostitute, and ambition was seen as “outside the province of ladies.” Still, a
number of women were able to carve their own roles and affect the new nation.

The portrait of printer Anne Catharine Hoof Green (above, c.
1720–1775) depicts her holding a broadsheet, a symbol of her trade. However, it
is a subtle addition and nearly out of view, reminding the viewer that her perception
as a virtuous woman was just as important, if not more so, than the inclusion
of her trade. She took over the business from her husband after his death, and her
prominence was a rarity rather than a rule. Still, like Madison, Green proved
that women of the early republic had their say about—and effect on—important
events.

Between
Allgor and the exhibition, there is plenty of evidence of the importance of
women’s roles in the early republic. These women were able to maintain what the
founding men started, by creating social and political traditions that would
keep the country standing. The democratic experiment of the United States was
by no means assured of success, a fact often forgotten in retrospect. Still, its
tenuous start was strengthened by the contributions of clever women (and men)
who understood the importance of the personal to the political.

Have you ever tried changing something small
you thought was wrong? Now, imagine that what you tried to change affected an
entire country, culture, or community. This
month the National Portrait Gallery is proud to showcase individuals who
refused to allow tradition to get in the way of what they believed. Join us on Wednesday, June 26th for our collections-inspired
trivia game, Pop Quiz. This month the events will be held in The Luce Foundation
Center for American Art, on the
3rd floor of the Museum.

This month’s Pop Quiz theme is History Makers and Convention Breakers,
and will feature the sitters in our collection who broke boundaries with their
work and changed the landscape of their field. Did you know that Steve Jobs
once considered joining a monastery? Or that Nelson Mandela’s given name,
"Rolihlahla," means "troublemaker?" Compete with friends
and show us what you know about history’s greatest independent minds at this
month’s Pop Quiz.

The
Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here
is a sneak peek at the 10 point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz
trivia:

From plumbing the depths
of human nature in his explorations of the subconscious, Jackson Pollock
evolved his famous "drip" paintings, in which paint was flung,
dribbled, and slashed onto huge horizontal canvases in a form of visual free
verse reminiscent of jazz.

What art movement was
Pollock associated with?

a) Abstract
expressionism

b) Panic
Movement

c) Fluxus

d) Lyrical
abstraction

e) Neo-Dada

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s Pop Quiz will be held in the Luce Center for American Art, on the
3rd floor of the Museum. Pop Quiz will return to the Kogod Courtyard
in July.

May 28, 2013

The
National Portrait Gallery is proud to call the District of Columbia home, and
equally proud of the great collection of portraits we have of DC residents past
and present.

On May 29, you can test your knowledge of famous locals at the
museum’s monthly collections-based trivia game, Pop Quiz! This month’s Pop Quiz
theme is “Hometown Heroes,” featuring questions about the sitters in our
collection who have called DC home.

Pop Quiz
can be played individually or in teams of up to 6 people. Festivities begin at
6:30 p.m. The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be
available for purchase. Below is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for
this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

Michael Jordan is the winner of numerous NBA awards, a two-time Olympic
gold-medalist, Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, and even, briefly, a minor-league
baseball player. In 2001 Jordan came out of retirement to play two seasons for
the Washington Wizards. What number did Jordan wear while playing for Wizards?

a) 12

b) 45

c) 23

d) 25

Pop Quiz
trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the
National Portrait Gallery.

May 08, 2013

It’s always exciting to open another window on the artistic
process. The new program series Studio Time offers adults the chance to take an
art lesson from a contemporary artist whose work the museum has collected or
displayed. The first three sessions—on May 11, June 8, and July 13—will be led
by, respectively, Mary Borgman (charcoal on Mylar, her work Merwin (Merf) Shaw is above), Mequitta Ahuja (collage
drawing), and Jennifer Levonian (animation).

Studio Time builds on the great momentum of our serial
exhibitions “Portraiture Now”and “Outwin
Boochever Portrait Competition,”which
show the current state of the art of portraiture and offer visitors a special
opportunity: the chance to discuss a successful artist’s inspiration,
materials, and technique with her (or him).

NPG programs, including the popular
Family Days, Be the Artist, and Gallery360, have made those discussions a
regular occurrence—indeed, a point of emphasis. For example, after presenting a
Gallery360 talk for us, artist John Kascht made a short film, Funny Bones,that reveals his process in rich and humorous detail. However, seeing so many
unsupervised adults in the line for child-friendly art-making activities made
it clear that the time had come for us to arrange a studio program of your own.

And so it begins this Saturday, when 20 visitors will have
the museum—and Mary Borgman (right)—to themselves for a memorable art lesson. Whether
you sign up to sharpen your own artistic vision, to experiment with unfamiliar
materials, or just to have as much fun as the kids at our last Be the Artist
program, carve out a little Studio Time for yourself this summer!

There is a $50 fee for registration and materials. The
program is limited to 20 participants per session. E-mail studiotime@si.edu for registration and
payment instructions. This program is
intended for adults ages 18 and over.

Studio Time is sponsored in part by The Reed Foundation,
Inc. Support also comes from the Reinsch Family Education Endowment.

April 22, 2013

A painter, a curator and an intern walk into a bar . . . If you want the punch line, join us at the
National Portrait Gallery for our monthly collections-based trivia game, Pop
Quiz, on April 23 at 6:30 p.m. in
the Kogod Courtyard.

Do you think you know the straight facts about history’s
silliest men and women? We’ll put you to the test. This month’s Pop Quiz theme
is “Comedians,” featuring sitters from our collection who have made audiences
giggle and guffaw. They range from vaudevillians like Charlie Chaplin to
stand-ups icons like Bill Cosby. Did you know that radio personality Jimmy
Durante was also the voice of the much-loved animated character Frosty the
Snowman? Or that the majority of Buster Keaton’s films were made without any
script?

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages
will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this
month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

When
Woody Allen (above) transitioned from comedy writer to stand-up comedian in the 1960s,
his act emphasized monologues rather than traditional jokes. The result was the
development of a unique persona—that of a worried, neurotic intellectual which
he insists is different from his true temperament. Besides entertaining film
audiences and critics alike, Allen also has a passion for jazz music. He still
performs regularly with his band in New York. What instrument does Allen play?

a)
Clarinet

b)
Trumpet

c)
Saxophone

d)
Flute

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene
Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery.

April 11, 2013

Hear widely acclaimed poets John Koethe, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Paul Muldoon read their work on Sunday, April 21, at the National Portrait Galley.

NPG
Historian David Ward is the curator of the current exhibition “Poetic Likeness:
Modern American Poets” (through
April 28, 2013). Recently he spoke with us about a poetry reading featuring
three award-winning poets to be held at the Portrait Gallery on April 21, 2013.

Q: John Koethe, Yusef Komunyakaa,
and Paul Muldoon are coming to town. These are three distinct and powerful
voices—first, can you tell us how you managed to reel in these poets for this
event?

DW: They are great poets, aren’t
they? Our immediate relationship with them is that I had asked them to be among
the twelve contemporary poets that we commissioned to write a new poem for Lines in Long Array: A Civil War
Commemoration, Poems and Photographs, Past and Present, which NPG is publishing this fall. So we
wanted to have an event this spring to both close the “Poetic Likeness” exhibition
and pivot to anticipate this forthcoming publication. So I asked them if they’d
come down and debut their Civil War poems and read their own work.

I had a
prior relationship with these three poets (and some of the others who
appear in Lines of Long Array)
because I had put on a program in New York for a celebration of the Hudson
River. Since that event, sponsored by the Port Authority of New York, went
pretty well, I kind of had a foot in the door to get them to participate in
these projects. Also I’ve found if you ask people to do things for the
Smithsonian, they’re inclined to oblige!

Q: These poets each go in
different directions—language, philosophy, traditional themes, nontraditional
themes. Do you see any common denominators among them other than their shared
excellence and artistic merit?

DW: Hmmmm. I’m not sure there is any
immediate connection between them, either in terms of style or subject, except
that they’re all about the same age so they exemplify contemporary poetry at
its best. They all are very skilful and move back and forth from formal to free
verse across a range of subjects.

All three are very smart—I mean really smart—and
they all have a powerful command of the literature; I’d liken them, in a way,
to chess grand masters in how they’ve accumulated knowledge for their own use,
for their own “game,” as it were.

One thing
I like is that they are all pretty eclectic and write about a lot of different
things; you can’t pigeonhole any of them. They also span cultures in a number
of ways. Paul Muldoon is from a Catholic family in Protestant Northern Ireland and
now lives in New Jersey; Yusef Komunyakaa came back from Vietnam and changed
his name from James William Brown to honor his grandfather and the African
diaspora; John Koethe is a philosophy professor as well as a poet—I think
there’s a bit of his work on Wittgenstein in his poetry: the dilemma about how
the world can be wholly known, if it can at all.

All of this knowledge is worn
lightly, so all three of them are weighty without being leaden. The other thing
is that they all are really good readers of both their own work—and the work of
others. And they’ve all done us proud with the poems they’ve written for Lines in Long Array. It’s worth coming
out just to hear these new works!

Q: This event will coincide with
the closing of “Poetic Likeness: Modern American Poets,” an NPG exhibition that
you curated. What would you like the NPG audience to take away from these
experiences?

DW: Enjoyment, first of all. I want
the poetry reading to be fun. I don’t like the idea that poetry is Something
Very Serious and an arcane branch of knowledge. I think there’s a general
conception that poetry is very difficult—almost incomprehensible—and that it
can’t be understood without a lot of struggle.

Poetry is a different language
but I don’t think it’s a difficult language. Poetry is like driving a stick
shift: you have to do two things at once—in poetry’s case, pay attention to the
meaning of the words but also the rhythms and sounds the words make, and in
turn how that inflects the meaning. And one of the ways of getting into this is
to hear a really good poet read his or her work.

And as I said above, all of
three of these guys have a really strong stage presence when reading. If Yusef
reads his poem “You and I Are Disappearing”—and I’m going to ask him to—people
are going to fall apart because it’s so powerful.

Also, I
have to say that I’ve been gratified at the reception to “Poetic Likeness,” and
I think having an event like this to close it out is a nice way to celebrate an
exhibition that has meant a lot to me. It also will be an appetizer for the Civil
War book in the fall, for which I will be putting on another, larger, public
event, a combination of poets reading and scholars talking, I think, although
I’m not sure yet of the exact lineup. Plus I want one more big weekend for
attendance!

March 26, 2013

March is Women’s History Month, and the National Portrait Gallery is
excited to host a special event celebrating the contributions of the famous, fearless,
and fabulous ladies in our collection.Join us in the Kogod
Courtyard on Thursday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m. for NPG Pop Quiz, a collections-inspired
trivia game.

This month’s theme, “Ladies First,” will highlight the
groundbreaking women who made strides as the “first” in their field and had a
major impact on history and culture. For example, did you know that Amelia
Earhart once wrote an aviation column for Cosmopolitan
magazine? Or that when young architect Maya Lin submitted her winning design
for the Vietnam memorial, she beat out hundreds of other applicants, including
one of her professors at Yale (who gave her a B in his course!)?

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus
question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

First Lady Martha Washington married George Washington in 1759, pulling
him upward in Virginia’s social and economic strata. Martha was viewed by
contemporaries as a quiet, reserved woman capable of managing an estate. She
contributed to her husband’s climb to national leadership in numerous ways.
During the Revolutionary War, Martha even stayed with her husband in the army’s
winter encampment.

February 25, 2013

Robert Frost (above) once said, “A poem begins in
delight and ends in wisdom.” Come delight us with your wisdom and see how much
you really know about poetry at Pop Quiz: “Poetic Likeness”!

This month’s Pop Quiz takes place on February 27.
The night is hosted by curator David Ward, who will lead a tour of the “Poetic
Likeness” exhibition at 6:00 p.m. in the G
Street lobby (and, we hope, drop a few trivia hints!). Trivia begins at
6:30 p.m. in the Kogod Courtyard. The questions will cover all sorts of
literary icons, like T. S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman, and Gertrude
Stein, just to name a few. Pop Quiz can be played individually or in teams, and
the top scorer will receive a prize at the end of the night.

Snacks and beverages will be
available from the Courtyard Café for purchase. Here is a sneak peek at the ten-point
bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz:

Robert Penn Warren (below) was a poet and novelist known for his
involvement in the founding of the New Criticism literary movement. His most
influential novel, All the King’s Men, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Vanderbilt,
Warren’s alma matter, named its center for humanities after him. Warren was
part of what southern group of poets?

A.
The Movement

B.
The Fugitives

C.
The Rhymers’ Club

D.
The Group

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a
month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait
Gallery.

January 28, 2013

C’mon, Everybody! Put on your Blue Suede Shoes and Walk
This Way for an evening of rock-and-roll trivia. Hopefully you’ll get some Satisfaction and Won’t Get Fooled Again.

This month’s Pop Quiz takes
place on January 31at 6:30 p.m. in the Kogod Courtyard and will
look at the gods and goddesses of rock who reside in the collection of the
National Portrait Gallery. This trivia night will test your knowledge of icons
such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Elvis, The Boss, and more. Pop Quiz can be
played individually or in teams, and the high scorer receives a prize at the
end of the evening.

The
Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for
purchase. Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s
Pop Quiz:

Before
her tragic death of a drug overdose at age twenty-seven, Janis Joplin had become a
female rock icon. Known for her raspy and bluesy singing voice, she rose to
fame late in the 1960’s as a psychedelic funk artist. Though she is generally
known as a solo singer, she began her career singing for Big Brother and the
Holding Company, and later went solo with her backup bands. Which of the
following was one Joplin’s backup bands?

A.
The Famous
Flames
B. The Comets
C. Kozmic Blues BandD. None of the Above

Pop
Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the
National Portrait Gallery. On February 27, please join us for Pop Quiz: “Poetic Likeness.”
Curator David Ward will lead special tour of the “Poetic Likeness”exhibition (and perhaps drop a few
hints for Pop Quiz); trivia begins in the Kogod Courtyard at 6:30 p.m. To
participate in the tour, meet in the G Street lobby at 6:00 p.m.

December 02, 2012

“My travels since leaving the army . . . ” Colin Powell notes in
his autobiography, My American Journey,
“have deepened my love for our country and our people. It is a love full of pride for our virtues
and with patience for our failings.”
Powell, a career soldier who rose to the highest level of the United
States military—from 1989 to 1993 he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff—has never stopped traveling, and he has always risen to the challenges
issued to him by the country he loves. After leaving the army in 1993, Powell later served as Secretary of State
during the first administration of President George W. Bush.

On Sunday, December 2, 2012, Colin Powell’s portrait was
added to the collection of the National Portrait Gallery and unveiled in a special
ceremony which included an interview with National Public Radio’s Michele
Norris. In preliminary comments before
the unveiling, NPG Commission Chairman Jack Watson stated, “The remarkable
story of General Colin Powell is one of the nation’s great stories… he is the
Cincinnatus of our time.”

Powell was painted by artist Ronald Sherr, who is also
responsible for NPG’s portrait of President George H. W. Bush, acquired in
1995. Sherr’s portrait of Powell is no
small work—it measures 92 1/2 by 51 ¾ inches; the artist portrays the general
standing in front of Theodore Roosevelt Hall at the National War College at
Fort McNair in Washington D. C.

Though
Sherr resides in Hong Kong, the painting was completed during several life
sittings and with the aid of photographs taken by the artist. General Powell noted of the work, “People
will be coming to the National Portrait Gallery and seeing this picture of me,
but what they will be seeing is Ron’s artistry and his brilliance.”

—Warren Perry,
Catalog of American Portraits, National Portrait Gallery

October 23, 2012

It was
a hard land, and it bred hard men to hard ways.—Louis
L'Amour on the wild West

In a land full of beauty and danger, some brave men and
women called the American West their home. The National Portrait Gallery
invites you to show off what you know of their adventures and separate history
from legend at this month’s Pop Quiz on Wednesday, October
24 in the Kogod Courtyard.

This month’s collections-based trivia game will
cover the historical figures who rode, robbed, and fought their way across this
continent in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.

Did you
know that Apache leader Geronimo rode in President Theodore Roosevelt’s 1905 inaugural
parade? Or that the seventh governor of Texas, Sam Houston, was removed from office
when he refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy? Through enduring
controversy and lawless lands, this month’s Pop Quiz explores the wildest years
on the American frontier.

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages
will be available for purchase. DJ Micah
Vellian will be spinning tracks starting at 5:00 p.m., and trivia begins at
6:30 p.m.

Here is a sneak peek at the ten-point bonus question for
this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

Red Cloud (right) was the war leader and chief of the Ogala
Lakota Sioux. He led a successful campaign known as Red Cloud’s War against the
United States. The war ended in 1868, and a treaty was signed. Red Cloud led
the transition to reservation life.

What was the name of the treaty Red Cloud signed to
end Red Cloud’s War?

September 24, 2012

The hallways of the National Portrait Gallery are full of unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions, conspiracies, and the paranormal. Join us as we explore with our collections-inspired trivia game, Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard at 6:30 p.m. on September 26.

This month’s theme, “History’s Mysteries,” covers a century’s worth of secrets, some of which have been solved, while still others remain shrouded in questions and doubt. Have you ever wondered what really happened to Amelia Earhart’s plane? Or if there was more to the story about Marilyn Monroe’s untimely death? How did Harry Houdini complete his most daring tricks without breaking a bone, only to die from a punch to the stomach?

You might just get more questions than answers out of this very special trivia night.
The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the private box of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln at the Ford’s Theatre. He shot the president just days before the Civil War would come to a close. Suspicions still haunt the extent of the plot and those involved, including connections to another man meant to be in Lincoln’s box that evening.

Who intended to join the Lincolns at the theater before he changed his plans?

a) General Ulysses S. Grant

b) General William T. Sherman

c) Andrew Johnson

d) General Philip H. Sheridan

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery.

August 21, 2012

Were you excited about the 2012 Olympics in London this summer? Did Gabby Douglas’s smile melt your heart? Were you on the edge of your seat watching May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings in the final round of women’s volleyball?

If you’re still riding waves of Olympic euphoria, join us at the National Portrait Gallery on August 22 at 6:30 p.m. for our collections-inspired trivia game, Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard. This month’s theme is “Going for Gold,” where we will test your knowledge on Olympic-inspired trivia questions. These questions will highlight Americans in our collection who have competed in the Olympics, beginning with the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

Lance Armstrong is a cyclist who competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Although he never medaled during the Olympics, Armstrong had great success later in his career, winning the Tour de France seven times. In 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage-three cancer, but by 1998 his cancer was in complete remission.

In what movie did Armstrong appear as a motivational character, speaking about his experience fighting cancer?

A. The Mighty Ducks

B. The Blind Side

C. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

D. Glory Road

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery.

July 23, 2012

Travel back in time to the era of fast jazz, prohibition, and rich creative experimentation. The culture of the 1920s, both in America and Europe, was colored by the anguish of a generation who had witnessed the horrors of war during their most formative years. Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and T.S. Eliot transformed their disillusionment into monumental works.

Come test your knowledge on Wednesday, July 25, at 6:30 p.m., when the National Portrait Gallery will be hosting our collections-inspired trivia game Pop Quiz in the Kogod Courtyard. This month’s theme, “The Lost Generation,” will feature members of the collection who came of age during World War I, including expatriate writers, artists, and other figures such as the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth.

Don’t miss the chance to learn more about this “hard-drinking, fast-living” cohort of cultural icons. For example, did you know that Ernest Hemingway (right) was an ambulance driver in Italy during the First World War? Or that he once asked his patron and mentor, Gertrude Stein, to be the godmother of his son?

Author, playwright, and NPG staffer (and our resident blogger) Warren Perry will act as quiz master for the events. The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase. The top-scoring team receives a prize at the end of the evening.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz:

This National Portrait Gallery building has been occupied by many U.S. government agencies, but in the 1920s, its sole occupant was the agency for whom it was originally intended. What was that agency?

a) The Post Office

b) The Office of Economic Affairs

c) The Patent Office

d) The Office of Foreign Affairs

Pop Quiz trivia is played once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery. The next Pop Quiz, featuring Olympians, takes place on Wednesday, August 22, at 6:30 p.m.

June 20, 2012

Ready for a journey through Time? Join us at the National Portrait Gallery tonight, June 20, at 6:30 p.m., for our collections-inspired adult trivia game, Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard. This month’s theme is “Time (Magazine) Marches On.”

We will test your knowledge on trivia questions inspired by people who have been featured on the covers of Time magazine. For example, did you know that football superstar Jim Brown appeared on Time’s cover in 1965? During his football career from 1957 to 1965, Brown propelled his team, the Cleveland Browns, to many victories and scored more than 100 rushing touchdowns.

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

In February 1958, a year after winning the first of his record-breaking five Kentucky Derby races, veteran jockey Bill Hartack was pictured on Time magazine’s cover (right). Despite his wide success, Hartack never won all three races of the esteemed U.S. Triple Crown.

Name the three races a jockey must win to capture the Triple Crown victory.

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery.

Our next Pop Quiz is on July 25 at 6:30 p.m. Author, playwright, and NPG staffer Warren Perry will guest-host a Pop Quiz trivia night dedicated to the Lost Generation, a term popularized by Ernest Hemingway that refers to American writers who lived in Europe between World War I and the Great Depression.

May 29, 2012

In need of some old-fashioned Hollywood glamour? Join us at the National Portrait Gallery on Wednesday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m. for our collections-inspired adult trivia game, Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard.

This month’s theme is “Classic Hollywood.” We will test your knowledge on actors and actresses in our collection who were active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. For example, did you know that Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, along with forty-four celebrities from the 1920s and 1930s, were parodied in a short cartoon by Tex Avery?

The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

Marilyn Monroe is best remembered for her roles in The Seven-Year Itch, Bus Stop, The Misfits,Asphalt Jungle, and All about Eve. Monroe has been ranked number six on the list of the most influential female American Screen Legends by AFI. Monroe has become immortalized as a pop culture icon.

Along with police officer James Dougherty and baseball player Joe DiMaggio, what famous American playwright was Monroe married to?

A: Arthur Miller

B: William Inge

C: Tennessee Williams

D: Sam Shepard

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery. The next Pop Quizis Time (Magazine) Marches On, on June 20 at 6:30 p.m.

How do you portray a sound? Roy DeCarava’s portrait of John Coltrane (1926–1967) vibrates with the intensity that “Trane” brought to his music, and its multiple exposures suggest the cascading notes that poured from his saxophone.

Aside from suggesting the timbre and volume of Coltrane’s playing, the photograph also seems like a glimpse into the spirit world: the physicality of Coltrane—who was a large, bulky man—becomes indistinct and diffused, blown apart by the exploration of the ecstatic possibilities of his music.

Coltrane never developed the mannerisms and styles that more flamboyant musicians, such as Miles Davis or Dizzy Gillespie, used to accent their playing and augment their performance. His style was no style. Coltrane, who was shy to begin with, simply played. DeCarava’s diffused image makes recognition difficult—it is not a “likeness” but suggests a musician achieving the kind of lift-off in which he would simply disappear, leaving only the music behind, coming from everywhere and nowhere.

Born in Hamlet, North Carolina, in 1926, with ancestors who were ministers in the AME Zionist church and musicians, Coltrane started playing music when he was about twelve, studying clarinet and then alto saxophone. After a stint in the navy, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia, where his now-widowed mother had relocated, and became part of the emerging wave of East Coast bebop musicians.He started playing tenor saxophone and by 1949 was recording with Dizzy Gillespie’s orchestra. By the middle 1950s he was playing and recording with Miles Davis in one of the most influential jazz ensembles of all time; among its recordings was Kind of Blue, a watershed of modern music.

Coltrane had also become an addict, battling alcohol and drugs. While Ralph Waldo Emerson once made the argument that a poet should use drugs or stimulants to dissolve self-consciousness, in practice, drug addiction usually ruins the poet—or the musician. Coltrane was fired multiple times, including by Davis.

Coltrane finally got clean in 1957, and his sobriety seems to have enhanced his already strong conviction that his music was fundamentally spiritual. That spiritual dimension was explored to its sonic limits in Coltrane’s own bands and in such albums as Giant Steps and, tellingly, A Love Supreme. (His greatest popular hit was a 1960 jazz version of the sentimental Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune “My Favorite Things.”) Coltrane’s explorations of eastern religion and its connections to what he now called “world music,” not jazz, were cut short by his early death from liver cancer.

In San Francisco, the “Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church,” founded in 1971, takes Coltrane as its patron saint and prophet, using the saxophonist’s music and lyrics as the basis of its liturgy. Such is the power of Coltrane’s life and legend that this reverence for the musician seems wholly appropriate. Coltrane’s importance is not just in his place in the history of jazz, his performances, or his albums, but in the way that he pursued his art as the vessel through which to achieve a spiritual transcendence of earthly forms, including the structure of music itself.

Coltrane, in the tradition of Emerson’s comment that he did not want “meters but meter making arguments,” was one of the great creative destroyers in American culture. Like Walt Whitman and Jackson Pollock—or Emerson himself—Coltrane was a breaker of forms, remaking the traditional to create wholly new ways of embodying artistic expression and the human spirit. No picture can capture that, but DeCarava’s is as close as we will get.

Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) with the Anacostia Community Museum and the National Portrait Gallery as we feature the lives and music of John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock. Join WPFW radio host Rusty Hassan, adjunct professor at Georgetown University, in a discussion of the life and contributions of both musicians. Then, the award-winning Howard University Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Professor Fred Irby III, will perform memorable works by both Jazz giants. This JAM program will be held at the National Portrait Gallery’s McEvoy Auditorium, 8th and G Streets NW, Washington, DC, and is a memorable annual concert for jazz lovers of all ages.

March 27, 2012

Are you ready for a blast from the past? If so, join us at the National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m., for our collections-inspired trivia game Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard.

This month’s Pop Quiz theme is “The 1980s” (poofy hair and neon leg warmers not required). We will test your knowledge on ’80s-inspired trivia questions and highlight sitters in the National Portrait Gallery collection—from politicians to singers and everyone in-between—who made their mark on the 1980s. For example, did you know that the famous LA Lakers player Magic Johnson and his rival from the Boston Celtics, Larry Bird, are credited with saving the NBA because their rivalry sparked interest in a whole new generation of fans?

Make sure you come early—DJ Micah Vellian will be playing your favorite ’80s tunes from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

During the 1980s, Andy Warhol reemerged into the art scene because of his affiliation with younger, more prolific artists who were dominating the New York art scene. It was during this time that Warhol produced his famous screen-print of Michael Jackson. Warhol once said “I love Los Angeles. I love Hollywood. They're so beautiful. Everything's plastic, but I love plastic. I want to be plastic.”

Which celebrity did Andy Warhol NOT create a portrait of?

A. Mick Jagger

B. Judy Garland

C. Pete Rose

D. Betty White

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery.

March 09, 2012

On Thursday, March 22, the National Portrait Gallery will host a free screening of the documentary film John Muir in the New World. The screening will be followed by a conversation with the filmmakers.

The Prophet and the President

“Now this is bully!” exclaimed President Theodore Roosevelt (right) during his 1903 camping excursion into the Yosemite wilderness with legendary environmentalist John Muir.

The intrepid pair of adventurers embarked on an ambitious hike to magnificent Glacier Point. Sheltered by a grove of firs, the two enjoyed beefsteaks, coffee, and conversation over a crackling campfire. When the two rose the next morning and found themselves under a glorious blanket of several inches of spring snow, the president immediately shouted with boyish enthusiasm, “This is bullier yet!”1

The man who coined the term “bully pulpit” fondly remembered his historic pilgrimage with Muir, recalling, “It was clear weather, and we lay in the open . . . the enormous cinnamon-colored trunks rising about like the columns of a vaster and more beautiful cathedral than was ever conceived by a human architect.”2

During what would later be recognized as one of the most consequential camping trips in environmental history, Muir persuaded Roosevelt to ensure federal protection of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove. Muir later wrote, “Oh for a tranquil camp hour with you like those beneath the sequoias in memorable 1903.”3 Muir noted to friends, “Camping with the President was a remarkable experience. I fairly fell in love with him.”4

Muir more than impressed Roosevelt; the president admired Muir’s devotion to conservation, his ability as a nature writer, and his sense of civic duty. At the end of their journey, Roosevelt fondly said to “the Yosemite Prophet,” “Goodbye, John. Come and see me in Washington. I’ve had the time of my life.”6

In 1908 Roosevelt honored Muir by designating Muir Woods, an old-growth redwood forest on the northern California coast, as a national monument.

The Portrait

A work exemplifying many aspects of late nineteenth-century academic portraiture, Orlando Rouland’s contemplative 1917 posthumous portrait of Muir invites the viewer to reflect on the extraordinary life of the one of the most influential figures in environmental history. Notably, Rouland also painted a portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt, featured in the New York Times in 1907.7

In a commemorative tribute to Muir in 1922, American writer and diplomat Robert Underwood Johnson described Muir as “a faithful citizen . . . a writer of enduring power, with vision, poetry, courage in a context, a heart of gold, and a spirit pure and fine.”8 Orlando Rouland’s portrait, painted three years after Muir’s death, allows the viewer to draw closer to such a spirit. Surprisingly, we see a man referred to as the “Apostle of Nature” not in the context of his beloved wilderness but within a manmade milieu.

Reminiscent of the “inward-turning thoughtfulness” of the work of American portraitist Thomas Eakins, the painting’s muted tones and quiet brushwork allow us to further sense the depth of Muir’s meditation; his chin rests heavily on his hand as if to prop up the weight of his ponderings. The unfocused character of the left hand, the open book, and the left leg contrast with the sharpness of the remainder of the work and suggest an attempt to reconcile tensions existing between the influences of photographic practice and the practices of the painter.9

Muir lifts his gaze from the pages of a volume that does not bear a title and leaves us wondering about the stories contained within. Rouland portrays Muir at a moment in the evening of life; perhaps Muir has chosen only to reflect on what has already been written.

Reel Portraits: John Muir in the New World, FREE and open to the public, Thursday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m,McEvoy Auditorium, 8th and G Streets NW. This program is presented in partnership with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital.

3. William Frederic Badé, The Life and Letters of John Muir (Boston: Houghton Mifflin,1924), 420.

4. Donald Worster, A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 368.

5. Ibid.

6. “Painting the President’s Portrait,” New York Times, February 10, 1907.

7. Robert Underwood Johnson, Tribute to Muir. Commemorative tribute read in the 1915–16 Lecture Series of the Academy of Arts and Letters. Reprinted from Vol. IX: American Academy of Arts and Letters,1922.

February 21, 2012

Ready to start spring break early? Come join us at the National Portrait Gallery on Wednesday, February 22, at 6:30 p.m. for our collections-inspired trivia game, Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard. This month’s theme is “Road Trip USA.” We will “travel” from sea to shining sea, testing your knowledge about state-inspired trivia questions and highlighting sitters in our collection who have special connections to different states in the USA.

For example, did you know that it took Gutzon Borglum (above) and his son more than ten years to sculpt Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota?

Make sure you come early—DJ Micah Vellian will be playing tunes from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Courtyard Café will be open, and snacks and beverages will be available for purchase.

Here is a sneak peek at the ten-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz trivia:

Before becoming one of the most beloved nineteenth-century American authors with poems including “Evangeline” and “Paul Revere's Ride,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (below) attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Longfellow returned to Bowdoin College before accepting a post at Harvard in 1834.

Which of the following commonly quoted phrases was not written by Longfellow?

A: "A boy's will is the wind's will"

B: "A man can be destroyed but not defeated"

C: "Ships that pass in the night"

D: "Footprints on the sands of time

Pop Quiz trivia occurs once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery. The next Pop Quiz is “The 1980s” on Tuesday, March 27, at 6:30.

January 24, 2012

While walking through the halls of the National Portrait Gallery you will find countless examples of people in the collection who came from humble beginnings, but through perseverance and determination built very successful lives. For example, did you know that Cary Grant (above) was homeless as an adolescent and performed for circuses before finally making it big as an actor? These sorts of rags-to-riches stories are the foundation of the American Dream.

Come test your knowledge on Thursday, January 26, at 6:30 p.m., when the National Portrait Gallery will be hosting our collections-inspired trivia game, Pop Quiz, in the Kogod Courtyard. This month’s theme, “From Rags to Riches,” is centered on our collection of portraits featuring American icons who have overcome adversity and have gone on to have find success as artists, athletes, musicians, authors, and entrepreneurs.

Here is a sneak peek look at the 10-point bonus question for this month’s Pop Quiz:

LeBron James was born to a single mother in Akron, Ohio. For much of his childhood, James’s family struggled financially and was forced to move frequently. James received international fame playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers and has won several of basketball’s highest honors, such as being named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Before James played a single NBA game, he famously signed a deal with Nike for how much?

A) $35 million

B) $67 million

C) $75 million

D) More than $90 million

Snacks and beverages will be available for purchase in the Courtyard Café.

Pop Quiz trivia is played once a month in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard in the National Portrait Gallery. The next Pop Quiz is “Road Trip USA” on Wednesday, February 22, at 6:30 p.m. DJ Micah Vellian begins to play tunes at 5:00 p.m.